


I love you but I can't

by Alimator



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Gabriel reveals his feelings, Nathalie needs therapy, Poor Nathalie Sancoeur, Sad Nathalie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27204787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alimator/pseuds/Alimator
Summary: Nathalie loves him, but she can't, why can't he see that?
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 11
Kudos: 41





	I love you but I can't

“What?” Nathalie looked up at Gabriel. What had he just said? It had come out of nowhere, she wouldn't have expected him to admit something like that in a million years, maybe more. She was sure that she hadn't dropped any hints or led him on in any way. She really hoped not. 

Nathalie had built a wall, no, it was more like a fortress, around her feelings for Gabriel. She had kept a neutral facade constantly. She never let emotions escape for a reason, even though people considered her cold and boring. That would also explain her lack of friends, but she assumed that that was mostly Gabriel's fault for keeping her in all hours of the day for work and Hawkmoth. 

Two years she had taken to bury her feelings. She had hoped to move on. Carve out a better future for herself. Preferably one that didn't include an indecisive man that gave her hope only to take it away ten minutes later. She had even downloaded Tinder, started using it too. She had gotten a few dates but her relationships, if they could even be called such a thing, were all short-lived. They were decent people, most of them nice, some just disgusted her. However, it was always broken off early on, whether they decided no when they heard about her 24 hour work hours or whether they saw the way she looked just slightly dazed whenever ‘her boss’ was brought up when they asked about her work. Sometimes her own indecisiveness would cause her to break it off because Nathalie would panic after Gabriel made eye contact with her the next day. So, basically, all her failed relationships were because of Gabriel. 

It was funny how everything managed to unravel with three words.

“No. No, no, no, no, no. Gabriel, you can't,” Gabriel couldn't love her. Not now, not ever. Nathalie felt her heart clench. It was a familiar feeling. One she experienced on a daily basis, but this one was worse. Instead of a soft squeeze, it felt as though someone was trying to yank her heart out of her chest. She wanted to puke, she wanted Gabriel to release an Akuma that would make the ground swallow her up right then and there. Anything, she prayed, anything to get her away from the misery that was dribbling through her veins, filling her lungs, and making it difficult to breathe. 

“What do you mean?” He looked broken, entirely confused and slightly scared and on any other day she'd have consoled him but today she felt the same. 

She couldn't believe him, not that she should have been surprised at his spontaneous thinking or lack of thinking if she was, to be honest, there was no in-between with Gabriel.

She couldn't love Gabriel Agreste, love of her life, the one she'd do anything for, because of one variable. One very important one. Emilie.

“What about Emilie? Gabriel, what about Emilie?”

“Nat,”

“No, I can't. It's wrong Gabriel, I can't,” Gabriel moved forwards to hold her but she recoiled, “No, don't- you don't love me,” she turned away from him. Nathalie felt Gabriel’s eyes follow her. She buried her head in her hands.

“Please stop,” Gabriel whispered.

Nathalie whipped back around, but not in anger. She couldn't explain what she was feeling at that moment. She had loved Gabriel for so long. She should have been relieved, grateful, ecstatic, but all she felt was fear and guilt. Maybe she was being unfair to herself, she was being unfair to Gabriel. However, the truth was the truth and she couldn't deny it and neither could Gabriel, “You can't love me because you love Emile,” Nathalie knew that she was slipping, that her professional facade had long broken away, “That's why we're doing this because you love Emilie,” She was rising in volume but she wasn't sure why, “Gabriel, please tell me that was a joke, please,” her voice cracked and tears started falling, “because that's not fair. It's not fair, you can't give me hope and then take it away. That's not okay,” Gabriel moved in, holding his arms out to usher her into his embrace. She tried to push him away, swatting at him and shoving him, but he eventually managed to wrap his arms around her, bringing her head into his chest, “You don't love me, you’ll never love me,” she whispered as tears fell from her eyes and onto his jacket, “you can't,” her voice barely audible.

**Author's Note:**

> I've kinda been thinking about how Nathalie (if she wasn't a MLB character and it was real life) would take Gabriel revealing his love for her instead of the other way around. There are lots of fics that reiterate the fact that she believes that she isn't good enough for Gabriel and thinks that Emilie, and only Emilie, can make him happy. So, i thought, maybe she'll deny Gabriel's feelings for her, at least at first. She's gone through so much trauma, you can't really blame her.


End file.
